Automatic vehicle wash systems have proliferated in recent years. The convenience and quality of wash afforded by such vehicle wash systems have improved to the point that most kinds of vehicles can be washed using such systems. Nevertheless, conventional vehicle wash systems are deficient in that they often miss cleaning certain areas of the vehicle including portions of the sides and wheels of the vehicle. Conventional vehicle wash systems use non-reverse rotation side washers. Such non-reverse rotation side washers are simple to implement, but fall short in their cleaning efficacy. Running a conventional side washer in a reverse rotation direction is dangerous because the natural behavior of the brushes is to pull themselves into the vehicle and grab, thereby damaging the vehicle.
Conventional cloth attachment cores and hubs are very difficult to maintain when it comes time to replace new cloth. After being exposed in a carwash environment over time, the slots in the cores and hubs expand and weaken. As a result, the cloth material pulls and falls out of the slots, therefore requiring replacement and purchase of a new core or hub every few years. Another problem with conventional cores is it is very difficult to change the cloth material when needed because the cloth becomes very difficult to slide out of the core or hub over time. These are time consuming and expensive tasks.
Accordingly, a need remains for improved methods and systems for providing a reverse rotation side washer for vehicles, and for retrofitting conventional systems. Embodiments of the inventive concept address these and other limitations in the prior art.
The foregoing and other features of the inventive concept will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.